Floor construction for refrigerated roadway vehicle



Sept. 3, 1963. J. J. BLACK 3,102,334

moon CONSTRUCTION FOR REFRIGERATED ROADWAY VEHICLE ori inal Filed Dec.10, 1959 :5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. 3, 1963 J. J. BLACK 3,102,334

FLOOR CONSTRUCTION FORREFRIGERATED ROADWAY VEHICLE Original Filed Dec.10, 1959 5 Sheet -Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

Sept. 3, 1963 J. J. BLACK 3,102,334

FLOOR CONSTRUCTION FOR REFRIGERATED ROADWAY VEHICLE Original Filed Dec.10, 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN VEN TOR.

t l y FLOOR CONSTRUCTION FOR REFRIGERATED ROADWAY VEHICLE James J.Black, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor, by mesne assignments, to PullmanIncorporated, a corporation of Delaware Original application Dec. 10,.1959, Ser. No. 857,193.

Divided and this application Oct. 28, 196i], Ser. No. 71,860

3' Claims. ((31. 29-548)" This is a division of my copendingapplication, Serial No. 857,193, filed December 10, 1959, which is acontinuation-in-part of my copending application Serial No.

645,241, filed March 11, 1957, now Patent No. 2,923,384.

This invention relates to truck and trailer vehicles of the refrigeratedtype, that is vehicles equipped with apparatus for circulating a streamof chilled air over perishablecargo such as foodstuffs or the. likewhile the cargo is being transported.

The principal objective of the present invention has been to provide avehicle floor system upon which cargo may be supported but through whichair may be conducted to or from the refrigerating system.

In the conventional refrigerated type of truck or trailer a power-drivenfan discharges air over the expansion coils of a refrigerating system bymeans of which the air is cooled and is then discharged into thevehicle, usually near the ceiling thereof or above the top of the cargolevel. and maintain the cargo at a suitably low temperature. In someinstances the cargo is supported on a floor having longitudinallyextending channels which respectively communicate Withthe suction sideof the air fan whereby air which has been warmed in passing over thecargomay be circulated to the fan for recooling. In actual practice,

systems of, this type fall far short of the theoretical cargo capacityis provided, through the provision of a plurality of vertical websextending longitudinally of the The cold air is-intended to how aroundthe cargo vehicle from one or rnore bottom panels which form a primaryclosure for the bottom of the vehicle body. 1 The webs at their upperextremities have one or more sidewise flanges; these reside in flushrelation to one another and constitute a cargo-carrying floor for thevehicle. However, the edges of the flanges are spaced from one anotherso as to provide slots extending longitudinally of the vehicle. Airfiltering over the cargo resting on the floor may pass through the slots(wherever they are uncovered) and into the channelways between adjacentwebs, and the ends of the channelvways are in communication with the aircirculating fan of the refrigerating system.

In addition, however, an important advantage of this invention is basedupon the discovery and determination that cargo loadedinto the vehiclecan be maintained at substantially uniform temperature regardless of thecare with which the cargo may be packed into the vehicle by providingslots or apertures at spaced intervals in the webs of the flooring,through which air entering one channelway m ay how to and through otherchannelways in its return to the forced air system.

In respect to refrigerating efficiency, the advantages which the presentinvention provides can best be understood in relation to the conditionsunder which cargo 3,102,334 Patented Sept. 3,1963

and succeeding layers are placed on top of one another usually in randompattern until the vehicle' is fully loaded.

Some of the crates may completely cover the individual floor ductopenings. At other areas some of the floor duct openings will beaccessible to air passing circuitously through the cargo from higherlevels.

If it happens, as it frequently does happen, that some of the floorducts are accessible to air only at points near the circulating fan, theair, following paths of least resistance, will flow unevenly throughthose areas, shortcircuiting the rest of the cargo. In other instancescertain of the floorducts may be open to air flow at points in thevehicle which are distant from the circulating fan, but the ductpassageways leading to the circulating fan from such points can onlycarry so much air volume at the given pressure differential provided bythe fan, and the result will be that the air circulating system isrelatively starved because of an inadequate return air supply, that is,the ducts to which air can gain entrance are individually too small tocarry the air volume necessary to maintain the desired temperature. Whenthis occurs the rate of heat removal from the vehicle interior will falland the cargo may become spoiled; this is particularly likely to occurif the floor air passageways adjacent the side walls of the vehicle arecovered, since the entrance of heat into the vehicle from the exteriorwill be greatest at those areas.

In accordance with this invention, improved over-all efficiency of therefrigerating system is achieved by providing a floor system includingspaced webs as previously described in conjunction with cross aperturesin the webs through which air capable of entering any channelway betweenadjacent webs through some open floor slot portion thereof may flow fromthat channelway to an adjacent channelway or even to a channelway spacedan appreciable distance from the one it entered, whereby each channelwaymay function to carry air to the air circulating fan whether the airenters the same directly through an open floor slot portion thereof orindirectly through the web apertures from adjacent channels having openslot portions. Thus, all of the air which is accessible from thecirculating fan is readily returned to the refrigerating system. Inother words, the pressures at the delivery end of each channelway of thefloor, whether negative or positive depending on the type of systemused, are equalized, and air entering into the cross communicating floorduct system at any point will find its passage either directly orcircuitously through the floor, no matter where it enters the system. Insubstance, the simple cross passages in the webs have been found toprevent starving of the refrigeration system and to provide againstoverloading of the channelways in the floor system. If the cargo isloaded into the vehicle in such manuer as to provide at least some openslots,'even at the very ends of the channelways, it has been determinedthat enough chilled air will pass over, around, or adjacent the cargounits to maintain all of them at temperatures below the permissiblelimit of safety. I

Even though apentures are provided at spaced intervals in the verticalwebs of the floor system, the webs, connected to the bottom panel attheir lower extremities and flanged at the top, provide a floor systemwhich is of When crates or extremities whereby a plurality of sectionsmay be joined longitudinalhy with one another to form a continuousfloor. Also, since cross apertures cannot be provided in the webs asthey are extruded, the section as extruded may be generallysemi-circular or inverted V formation so as to dispose the webs radiallyor angularly with respect to one another whereby space between the websis provided to permit a suitable tool such as a punch, drill, or endmill to enter each web and pierce the same crosswisely.

After the apertures are provided in the webs of a section, the sectionis then flattened so that the bottom panel is straight and the tops ofthe flanges of the respective webs are flush with one another, in whichcondition the section is joined edgewisely to a section similarlyfabricated.

In refrigerated vehicles of the type to which the present invention isdirected, the subfloor over which the floor of. the present invention islocated includes a thick layer of heat insulating material. It isnecessary to maintain such insulating material relatively dry for, whenthe material becomes wet, its heat insulating qualities are greatlyreduced. It has, therefore, been an objective of this invention toprovide a floor covering from extruded sections, the extruded sectionshaving means for joining one section to the other to prevent leakage ofwater between the two sections.

In the original application, Serial No. 645,241, referred to above, thedesign of the joint between adjacent sections was such that theapertures in the webs forming the communication between adjacentsections had to be located above the interlocking joint. The presentinvention provides an improvement in the structure disclosed in theoriginal application. The interlocking joint between adjacent sectionshas been improved by spacing the same from the webs of the longitudinalbeam construction. This construction permits water formed bycondensation in the cargo body to flow freely through the webs andthereby avoids any undesirable build-up of water between adjacent webs.

The new construction also permits the use of larger apertures in thatthe present invention imposes no restriction on the vertical dimensionof the apertures while permitting apertures of larger size to be usedwithout impairment of the load supporting strength of the extruded floorpanels.

These and other objectives of the invention will become readily apparentfrom the following detailed description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a trailer vehicle having a floorconstructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic view taken longitudinally through a trailervehicle equipped with an air cooling system and having a floorconstructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing the vehicle body in crosssection;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a floor section of interlockingtype adapted for connection with floor sections of similar constructionat its longitudinal edges;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of an adapter section for use at thejuncture of the floor system and a vehicle side wall;

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view of a floor section made of extrudedaluminum and being of generally inverted V formation in cross section tofacilitate piercing of the section webs to provide cross flow aperturestherein; and

FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 are views similar to FIG. 6 showing alternative methodsof forming cross flow apertures.

The body 1 of the vehicle shown in FIGURES 1-3 may be of conventionalconstruction, for which reason its details are not herein disclosed. Itwill be understood that the body is mounted on a wheeled frame orchassis having side channels or longitudinal beams, cross bolsters, orother structural members for supporting the body and the floor thereof.The body of a vehicle intended for refrigeration service usuallyincludes thermal insulation indicated generally at 3 at the walls androof as well as beneath the load-supporting floor.

In a typical vehicle of refrigerated type, an enginedriven compressorunit, indicated generally at 4, is located in an elevated position atthe front end to supply refrigerant to expansion coils indicatedgenerally at 5 over which a stream of air is forced by means of a blower6 driven from the compressor engine. The fan, usually located near theroof, propels a stream of chilled air over the cargo which isillustrated diagrammatically at 7. The fan 6 is supplied with air from amanifold space 8 located at the front end of the trailer, which may beprovided either by a bulkhead or partition or by spacing the front endcargo from the front wall. Similarly, ribs or channels 9 arranged atintervals along the side walls space the cargo from the side walls so asto allow air to flow downwardly along the side walls.

In FIGURES 2 and 3 the cargo 7 is indicated generally by the crosslines, but it will be understood that perishable cargo of the typerequiring refrigeration during transport cannot be stacked in suchorderly and compact fashion; for example, round bushel baskets or bulgedcrates containing vegetables or fruit will inherently have spacestherebetween through which air can move.

In accordance with the present invention, a load-sustaining,air-conductive floor is provided upon which cargo may be loaded but alsointo and through which air may pass to the fan inlet manifold area 8,not only from the rearmost end of the cargo but at whatever intermediateareas the air under the positive head pressure of the fan discharge andthe negative inlet pressure of the fan may filter downwardly throughpassages in the mass of cargo wherever the cargo units are spaced fromone another. This floor system, in the preferred mode of construction,comprises an assembly of individual floor sections. Each sectioncomprises a bottom panel portion or base 10 having a fiat, lower faceadapted to be fastened to and supported by structural members of thechassis extending longitudinally or transversely thereof or both. Fromthe bottom panel portion of each section a plurality of webs 11 extendvertically in spaced relationship to one another. The section, by way ofexample, may be made approximately 12" in over-all width to facilitateextrusion and convenience in handling, or some dimension ofapproximately the same magnitude which is modular with respect tovehicle width. Each section may extend throughout the length of thevehicle in which it is to be installed or sections of intermediatelength may be employed.

The webs 11, spaced from one another, provide channelways 12 extendingfrom one end of the floor system to the other. At their upperextremities, the webs 11 are of T formation, embodying flanges 13, 13which extend in horizontal direction from opposite sides thereof or fromone side only if desired. The upper surfaces of these flanges are flushwith one another and constitute the floor on which cargo units may beplaced. However, the flanges 13 of adjacent webs terminate short of oneanother, thereby providing longitudinal slots 14 through which air mayenter the channelways 12 from areas above the floor.

It will be seen that the cargo resting upon the flanges 13 of the floorsections will cover many of the slot areas 14, but that air passingthrough spaces between cargo units in its movement toward the floor willbe able to enter any uncovered slot areas of the floor system which arein communication with such spaces either directly or throughintermediate passageways in the mass of cargo. At the prevailing airpressure supplied or induced by the fan, each channelway 12 can onlycarry so much air, and if it happens that cargo is loaded onto the floorin such manner that only a few of the floor slots are acpass. Conditionsof this type frequently occur adjacent the side walls of thevehiclewhere the need for cooling air is greatest to conduct away theheat transmitted through the metal structure of theside walls. Some airalways will pass over the entire top of the cargo and move to the floorat the rear and return through the channelways to the inlet manifold atthe front, but it is desirable to promote the passage of air around thecargo units intermediate the ends from the ceiling to the'floor.

.To promote air circulation notwithstanding closure of some of the airslots by cargo loaded thereon, the webs 11 of the floor sections areprovided with apertures 15 extending therethrough. In the preferredstructure the aperturesare located beneath the flanges 13 of the webs inspaced relationship to one another throughout the lengths of the webs.By this means any channelway which is closed by cargo coveringits slotsin whoseor in part is available to accept or induce air from anychannelway which is open to air but which is otherwise loaded to thelimit of its air carrying capacity. The negative pressures at the outletends of the channelway, are equalized and all channelways function tocarry air to the fan even thoughthe' slots in the floor are open at onlycertain points or areas. By this means an adequate supply of air to. theinlet side of the fan is provided and the efficiency of therefrigerating system is maintained. i 1

'From the structural point of view, it is preferred to equip the edgesof the floor sections withupstanding male t and female interlockingflanges-through which the sections may be joined to one another in suchmanner that the bottom panel portions of adjoined sections form avirtually air-tight membrane. As shown in FIG. 4, the interlockingflange structure along one edge, i.e., the left comprises a continuoushook portion 16 extending upwardly from the bottom panel portionoutwardly andthen downwardly. From FIG. 4 it can be seen that the hookportion 16 is spaced from the outermost web 11 of each section andprojects a substantial distance above the bottom panel portion 11. Sincethe hook portion 16 extends continuously along the length of eachindividual section, the hook portion 16 forms a retaining wall or dampreventing water from flowing into the joint between the sections whichthe interlocking members provide.

A ledge 17 projects beyond the hook portion 16 The ledge and hookportion provide a cavity to receive a male strip 18 having an upwardlydirected flange 19, the strip 19 being mounted in FlG. 4. I

To assemble and interlock the sections, each may be slid longitudinallyonto the adjacent section or, as in the arrangement disclosed, theconnection can be made by angulating one section laterally to the otherso that the upper edge ofthe longitudinal male strip 18 can be entered,continuously, into the longitudinal hook portion '16 of the adjacentsection, after which the angulated section may be reclined to the sameplane. In either manner, as many sections may be joined as are necessaryto provide a floor over the entire floor area of the vehicle; When thesections are in the same plane, the upper surface of the thickened edge17 of each rests facially against the lower surface of strip 18 of theadjacent section. Thereby seals at the right side of each section asviewed are formed which are effective at the normal air pressure vehiclemeets the vehicle side wall, a corner extrusion of f the type shown inFIG. 5 may be utilized. This comprises a locking structure of the maleor female type, as needed to accommodate asectionof the type shown inFIG. 5, a

wall portion 20 extending vertically from the locking structure,preferably in spacedlrelationship thereto, and a ledge 21 projectingfrom the vertical wall portion at a level corresponding to the height ofthe tops of the loadsupporting flanges 13- of the floor sections.Through the spacing provided by the locking structure, the cornerextrusion provides a continuously extending air channelway at theextremity of the floor adjacent the side wall, as well as a slotcommunicating therewith. Instead of using angle pieces at the outermostlongitudinal edges of an'assembly of floor sections where the side wallsjoin the floor, the

portions projecting outwardly from the outermost webs of the outermostsections may be omitted or removed and the provision of apertures insuch webs also may be omitted whereby the outermost webs will thenconstitute closure walls at the sides of the intercommunicating ductwaysystem therebetween.

Inasmuch as the floor sections utilizing the advantages provided by thepresent invention are fabricated most conveniently by extrusion, it willbe seen that the apertures 15 in the webs 11 thereof have to be providedsubsequent to the extrusion, but it will also be seen that theextensions of the flanges '13 from the tops of the webs make the websrelatively inaccessible. However, FIGS. 5 and 9 show forms of extrusionwhich facilitate piercing of the webs to provide the cross holes. Thesection, as extruded, transversely is of circular, or truncated V formwhereby adjacent webs at the right and at the left diverge arcuately orangularly in opposite directions from each other or from one or morewebs at the center, such that a line passing through the one set of websclears the flange of the web, nearest the vertex angle of the adjacentset of webs. Such divergence provides open areas 122 and 23 between theright and left-hand webs or sets of webs and the center web or set.Through these clearance areas a suitable tool may be applied to piercethe webs, either singly or in sets. For example, a tool such as an endmill 25' may be applied to either of the center webs as shown, or toboth at once, to mill elongated apertures 15 therein at spacedintervals, or a drill may be used if round rather than elongatedapertures are desired. The ope-ration may be duplicated by subsequentlybringing the right and lefthand webs to the tooling. In the alternative,a die 26 may be inserted between the adjacent webs of a set so as tosupport the webs while punches, also indicated at 25, 25 may be appliedsimultaneously to the outer faces of the two webs of the set; I,

Other methods of forming the apertures 15 may be employed. As indicatedin FIG. 7, the strip 18 may be bent downwardly below the upper surfaceof the bottom panel portion 10. The downward bending of thestrip 18permits a drill 28 to form apertures 15 in all of the webs, the movementof the drill with respect to the sections being blocked before the drillengages hook portion 16 as shown in broken lines at the left side ofFIG. 7.

.In similarmanner, apertures may be formed in the section in the mannerillustrated in FIG. 8. There the ledge 17 is bent downwardly to anincluded angle of less than until the hook portion 16 is below the uppersurface of the bottom panel portion 10-. When bent in this manner, adrill can clear the top of the interlocking member and still passthrough the consecutive webs 11 forming apertures in a manner similar tothat shown in FIG. 7. A similar alternative method is as shown in FIG. 9wherein the section is bent or extruded to shape along a vertex lineresiding anywhere intermedia'l the sides of the panel but parallelthereto and a drill passed through the webs of one side of the sectionas indicated by the arrow 30 and thereafter passed through the webs onthe other leg of the section as indicated by the arrow 31. a

In all embodiments, the apertures may have their lower extremitiesapproximately flush with the upper surface of the bottom panel portion10. It is to be understood, of course, that following the apertureforming operation, the sections are bent into functional alignment 7 torestore them to the configuration illustrated in FIG. 4.

In the operation of the invention, the floor of the cargo body is formedby connecting the first section to the strip 18 secured to the cornerextrusions illustrated in FIG. 5. Thereafter succeeding sections arejoined to their adjacent sections until the complete floor is laid.

In use, air circulates freely around the interior of the cargo body aspermitted by the apertures 15 and the channelways 12 in the floorsection. If moisture condcnses on the floor of the vehicle, the damsprovided by the hook portion 16 and the flange 19 prevents suchcondensation from passing through the joint bet-ween sections andsoaking the batting beneath the floor. Since the apertures 15 are flushwith the upper surface of bottom panel portion 10, there is noconsequential buildup of condensed moisture anywhere in the floor of thecargo body.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. The method of producing cross and longitudinally ventilatedleak-proof flooring for a refrigerated vehicle, which method comprises,forming sectional floor panel members each having, integrally, a bottommember, complementary male and female interlocking members respectivelydisposed laterally from said bottom member continuously along thesidewise longitudinal edges thereof and adapted for interlockingconnection with complementary interlocking members of similar sectionalfloor panels, the said bottom member also having a plurality of flangedcontinuous webs disposed laterally from one face thereof in spacedparallel relationship to one another and to said male and femaleinterlocking members, the flanges of said webs disposed laterally fromsaid webs toward but spaced from the edges of the flanges of adjacentwebs and the said flanges being spaced uniformly from said bottommember, the said sectional floor panel being initially so formed thatthe surface of said bottom panel which is opposite the surface fromwhich said webs extend defines an included angle less than 180 extendingcontinuously throughout the length of said panel along a vertex residingintermediate the sidewise edges of said panel and parallel thereto,thereby dividing said panel into angularly divergent legs, the angle ofdivergence of said legs being such, relative to the spacing of theflanges and the distance thereof from the bottom member that theprojection of a line passing through the webs extending from one leg ofsaid angulated bottom member clears the top of any member projectinglaterally from the other leg of the angulated bottom member, thencutting apertures through said webs of said panel by applying a cuttingtool first to and through the face of that web nearest the said vertexat one side thereof and then passing said tool progressively through theother webs of said leg, the said tool being of such size that theapertures provided thereby in said Webs extend from points beneath theflanges of said webs to points closely adjacent the junctures of saidwebs with the bottom panel legs from which said webs extend, then, insimilar manner but in opposite direction providing apertures in any websextending from the other angulated leg of said bottom member, andfinally flattening said section to bring the said angularly divergentleg portions of said bot-tom panel into functional alignment with oneanother, whereby cross flow of air and water of condensation may occurfrom Web to web through said apertures but cross flow of water beyondthe confines of said panel is obstructed by the said male and femaleinterlocking members of said panel.

2. The method of forming cross ventilation apertures in an elongatedfloor panel section comprising a normally horizontal bottom member,complementary male and female interlocking members projecting upwardlyalong opposite longitudinal edge portions of said bottom member, and aplurality of vertical T-shaped members each having a web integral withsaid bottom member and a top flange, said T-shaped members beinglaterally spaced from each other and extending longitudinally along saidbottom member; the method comprising the steps of angularly bending saidbottom member away from said T- shaped members along a line extendingintermediate but parallel to said interlocking members to an angle ofmagnitude sufiicient to permit a cutting tool to pass in a straight lineover at least an interlocking member and along the upper surface of saidbottom member, and transversely cutting successive apertures in saidwebs in a straight line adjacent said bottom member without cutting saidinterlocking members.

3. The method of forming cross ventilation apertures in an elongatedfloor panel section comprising a normally horizontal bottom member,complementary male and female interlocking members projecting upwardlyalong opposite longitudinal edge portions of said bottom member, and aplurality of vertical T-shaped members each having a web integral withsaid bottom member and a top fiange, said T-shaped members beinglaterally spaced from each other and extending longitudinally along saidbottom member; the method comprising the steps of angularly bending saidbottom member away from said T-shaped members along a line extendingintermediate but parallel to said interlocking members to an angle ofmagnitude sufficient to permit a cutting tool to pass in a straight lineover an interlocking member and at least a portion of said T-shapedmembers and along the upper References Cited in the file of this patentUNITED STATES PATENTS 2,180,502 Bonsall Nov. 21, 1939 2,188,171 BonsallJan. 23, 1940 2,458,686

Davie Jan. 11, 1949

2. THE METHOD OF FORMING CROSS VENTILATION APERTURES IN AN ELONGATEDFLOOR PANEL SECTION COMPRISING A NORMALLY HORIZONTAL BOTTOM MEMBER,COMPLEMENTARY MALE AND FEMALE INTERLOCKING MEMBERS PROJECTING UPWARDLYALONG OPPOSITE LONGITUDINAL EDGE PORTIONS OF SAID BOTTOM MEMBER, AND APLURALITY OF VERTICAL T-SHAPED MEMBERS EACH HAVING A WEB INTEGRAL WITHSAID BOTTOM MEMBER AND A TOP FLANGE, SAID T-SHAPED MEMBERS BEINGLATERALLY SPACED FROM EACH OTHER AND EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY ALONG SAIDBOTTOM MEMBER; THE METHOD COMPRISING THE STEPS OF ANGULARLY BENDING SAIDBOTTOM MEMBER AWAY FROM SAID TSHAPED MEMBERS ALONG A LINE EXTENDINGINTERMEDIATE BUT PARALLEL TO SAID INTERLOCKING MEMBERS TO AN ANGLE OFMAGNITUDE SUFFICIENT TO PERMIT A CUTTING TOOL TO PASS IN A STRAIGHT LINEOVER AT LEAST AN INTERLOCKING MEMBER AND ALONG THE UPPER SURFACE OF SAIDBOTTOM MEMBER, AND TRANSVERSELY CUTTING SUCCESSIVE APERTURES IN SAIDWEBS IN A STRAIGHT LINE ADJACENT SAID BOTTOM MEMBER WITHOUT CUTTING SAIDINTERLOCKING MEMBERS.